Hi All,
I am one of many folks who got benefited from this forum. In return I wish to share my experience from creating a profile to landing as a PR.
Although I thought of working out this on my own , I decided to take help of Immigration consultant in my home country to make sure that I am not missing any information which I could have done if applied on my own. I don't remember the exact timelines but below are the key take aways and events,
My Profile in short:
28Yrs -- Single -- Masters -- 6 Yrs of IT Exp as a SAP Certified Consultant-- 2173 -- IELTS 7.5 = CRS 400
>> Creating Profile : With this score I decided to hire Immigration consultant to make sure that I dont miss any information or process. I have less time to spend on my immigration process due to work pressure when I started this.
Take Away: All that Immigration consultant helped me is to arrange all the papers in order and proofread . At time they even misguided me.
Suggestion : If you have time to do this on your own there is lot of information in this forum with which could end you up in Canada
>> ECA :With 1 Yr Masters (after 3 yrs bachelor) in UK initially I had doubt if WES would recognize this as Canada Masters . My report is indeed given out as Canada Masters Equivalent .
>> OIPNP : I am one of those set of people to react early to OIPNP as soon as they launched this program . Had I not applied to this I wouldn't have been where I am now . I had doubts if OIPNP would accept me as I am just on border with 400 , but they did pick me .
Take Away :
**PEng License **- I asked questions earlier on this forum if we need to go for this PEng License as I am Software Engineer by title in my last job . My experience proved that this is not required
**Having Degree not relevant to work** - I am into Accounting by education where as I work as a Software consultant by profession . OIPNP officer asked how i am going to justify this in his interview call , having an SAP Certification really helped me to justify . Officer seems satisfied with my skills. I guess having SAP Certification helped me immensely to clear this stage .
>>** Role of Immigration Consultants** - My consultant discouraged me not to apply as the program is quite new and chances for my case are very low. I reacted early and took a chance to apply on my own , all credits to this forum .
>> Selected in the Draw : With 400 OINP helped me immensely to get closer to my Canadian dream . Now acquiring PCC and Medicals was another big
task to me as I have been in 4 different Countries ( Malaysia - Online , Singapore- Police Cantonment Complex , UK-Online , India - PSK) . I had done Family version of medicals which didn't get me into any trouble.
Quick rate sheet for medicals in the countries I have inquired (Note**prices might have changed **)
USA : USD 400 (Houston)
CANADA : CAD 200 ( Waterloo)
India : RS . 4000 ( Hyderabad)
Malaysia : MYR 300 (KL)
>>>** Reference Letters** I should feel myself as lucky in this regard. I was only able to submit reference letters signed along with business card by Supervisor for couple of companies . Although I managed to get others on Letter Heads in required form I was scared as I have to rely of officers courtesy for this . I managed to submit offer letters, pay slips to strengthen my case.
>>>**Marriage and PR** In my experience all I have done wrong is not timing my marriage . Applying single will boost score for sure, if one can wait I suggest to wait for marriage. From my experience the right time to marry is AFTER GETTING COPR but BEFORE LANDING. I missed to time my marriage due to LACK OF INFORMATION and personal issues . Now I am have to process Spousal Sponsorship and wait for regular 12 plus months like others with Indian residence. From my review getting a Visit visa for spouse almost impossible. Nevertheless as I my wife holds USA H4B ball game here would be slightly different I guess, but be prepared to wait for your spouse after PR if you screw it up.
>>>** JOB** I am truly lucky TO GET WELL PAID IT JOB BEFORE I GOT MY PR CARD from my home country. All that I did was applying in Indeed.ca and giving interviews . I applied to very few openings but I noticed that having a PR got closer in getting a job. I used Sonetel and took Canadian number. I noticed that if we have Non Canadian number and Address hardly companies are interested in us . People can take Sonetel number divert calls to your local number and attend Skype interviews from abroad without landing . I am scared when people in this forum wrote their stories about their hard time in getting white collar jobs without Canada Exp. , but from my experience if you have a niche skill and have demand we can get job without much wait.
>>>** Comparing USA and Canada** I hold a USA H1B and Canada PR both applied and got more or less same time. There are many things we can compare between USA and Canada but to my knowledge getting a job with PR in Canada is easy than getting one with H1B in USA. If you are tied up to consultancies in USA I suggest you ditch them and go for jobs in Canada. Doing a quick math proved me that I earn more or less same in Canada after considering that I have to pay 20-30% as consultancy share in USA. Moreover with the scary Trump era coming by I decided to settle down in Canada and eye on Canadian Passport as I feel Canada is much safer and secured.
I think I have covered all my notable experiences in this journey . Remember this journey is full of tensions, one needs to hold , wait , plan . From my experience Fortune not only favors the brave but also people who plan and do hard work.
All the Best ..